- MN: Man who killed politician sentenced to life in US prison
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“A man who pleaded guilty to assassinating a top Democratic lawmaker in the state of Minnesota has been sentenced to two life terms plus 40 years in prison, in a case that underscored growing concerns over political violence in the United States. Vance Boelter, who pleaded guilty in June to the slaying of House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, was sentenced on Thursday. The 59-year-old also seriously wounded state Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in the attacks in June of last year. … Boelter stated that he spent months identifying and stalking his planned targets. He then drove to their homes disguised as a police officer to carry out the attacks, which were followed by the largest police search in the Midwestern state’s history.” (07/23/26)
- Court docs: Trump regime pulled research money from University of California via keyword search
Source: SFGate
“A filing in San Francisco court last week has researchers from the University of California feeling bullish about an ongoing legal fight with the Trump administration. Last year, the administration, through various agencies, cut money from thousands of research grants within the UC system. … the researchers’ lawyers wrote that per sworn statements, the agencies in question ‘used ‘search terms, keywords, or phrases’—and in some cases ‘artificial intelligence tools or software’—‘to identify grants for termination review.’’ The lawyers argue those cuts violate the First Amendment because they targeted researchers who work in Democratic-leaning states or were pursuing ideas that were not favorable to the Trump administration, like projects that prioritized disadvantaged communities or grants that mentioned working on diversity within the workplace. Additionally, the lawyers say, because the administration never rerouted that money elsewhere, the terminations violated the Constitution’s appropriations clause.” (07/23/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/trump-research-money-california-22354016.php
- US homicide rate drops 18%, nearing historic low per year
Source: United Press International
“Crime rates are on the decline in U.S. cities with the national homicide rate falling by 18%, inching closer to a historic low, the Council on Criminal Justice said Thursday. The Council on Criminal Justice released its mid-year report examining patterns for 13 types of crime in 36 U.S. cities. It found that nine of the 13 crimes were on the decline through mid 2026. … Of the nine types of crime that declined in the first half of the year, carjacking had the greatest decrease, falling by 47%. Drug offenses [sic] have continued to rise, marking the biggest upward trend at 12%.” (07/23/26)
- Don’t Blame AI for Your Own Medical Problems
Source: Reason
by Nick Gillespie“Last year, [Scott] Winters complained to ChatGPT about feeling dizzy and having blood pressure issues. He and his lawyers say ChatGPT advised him to remain ‘recliner-bound,’ and even invoked religious language (‘God did not design your body to endlessly fail’) to cajole the former pastor into taking it easy. A few weeks after consulting ChatGPT, Winters had a ‘massive pulmonary embolism’ intensified by blood clots that might have been linked to his lack of movement. … Contra his legal backers, Scott Winters didn’t nearly die because ‘ChatGPT acted like a medical authority while having none of the responsibility.’ He almost died because he didn’t take responsibility for his health.” (07/23/26)
https://reason.com/2026/07/23/dont-blame-ai-for-your-own-medical-problems/
- Upward Mobility Is a Better Measure of Justice Than Income Equality
Source: The Daily Economy
by Liza Claire“As another national campaign season begins, including some unapologetically redistributionist platforms, Americans should expect to hear still more about ‘income inequality.’ Candidates will promise to narrow it, activists will measure it, and commentators will treat it as a proxy for economic justice. But income inequality, while politically useful, is a poor measure of economic health. By itself, it tells us surprisingly little about whether an economy is flourishing or failing. More often than not, it distracts from the question that actually matters.” (07/23/26)
- How I Found Subversive Innovation in an Unfree World
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“To subvert, according to the 193 edition of Webster’s dictionary, is ‘to overturn from the foundation.’ Subversive innovation isn’t about tearing down the existing system. It’s about building your own, stronger foundation and letting the old one fall apart without its ruins falling on you. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are the obvious current example — sound money that can be created and exchanged without the old system’s cooperation makes fiat currency passe — but they’re just one. Anything that improves your life without the state’s involvement or permission makes your situation better and the state’s worse.” (07/23/26)
- On liberté: why France is so much freer than Britain
Source: spiked
by Miriam Cates“In France, citizens are generally expected to take responsibility for their own personal safety. I have been fortunate to enjoy regular French holidays since I was a child, and in recent years I have been increasingly struck by the growing contrast between Gallic liberté and Britain’s oppressive nanny state. Over the course of our two-week holiday this year, we visited dozens of cafés, restaurants and boulangeries. Not once were any of us asked if we had any food allergies or intolerances. On the train, no one reminded us to carry water in hot weather or to take our possessions with us at the end of the journey. Crossing an estuary on a small foot ferry, we hung over the side of the boat and no one told us off. … These may seem like small differences between our sister countries but the cumulative effect is significant.” (07/23/26)
- Here Comes Another Round of Sham Tariffs
Source: The Dispatch
by Scott Lincicome“In the coming days, one set of dubious replacement tariffs will give way to another. The ‘Section 122′ tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed this spring—intended to replace the ’emergency’ tariffs the Supreme Court invalidated in February—expire Friday, 150 days after he invoked them. Into that potential void will likely step a fresh batch of ‘Section 301’ duties, supposedly targeting the use of ‘forced labor’ around the world. As we’ve discussed, the issue of forced labor is real and complicated. … In the current Section 301 case, however, ‘forced labor’ is nothing more than legal cover.” (07/23/26)
https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/dispatch-markets/trump-tariffs-section-301-forced-labor-pretext/
- The Long Road
Source: Law & Liberty
by Charles Zug“Building the first interstate was a Sisyphean task.” (07/23/26)
- Elon Musk, the New Hero of Populism
Source: Paul Krugman
by Paul Krugman“Republicans have settled on their midterm argument: Democrats are all Communists. As an election strategy, this is as lame as it is ludicrous. But there is a small kernel of political reality underlying the new right-wing red-baiting: The emergence of a widespread public backlash against the extreme concentration of wealth in the hands of billionaires. … billionaires have had immense political power for decades, but they chose to exercise that power from the shadows, veiling their actions through patriotic sounding right-wing PACs and think tanks. Only political junkies understood what was going on underneath the surface. Today, however, the new generation of the hyper-wealthy are out there and in your face, flaunting their influence rather than concealing it. And the poster child for this change is, of course, Elon Musk.” (07/23/26)
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/elon-musk-the-new-hero-of-populism
- Britain Is Losing the Falklands
Source: Foreign Policy
by Antonio De Loera-Brust“In 1982, Argentina’s military invaded and occupied Britain’s overseas holdings in the South Atlantic, eventually surrendering after 74 days of conflict. The territorial dispute remains a deep source of grievance and national trauma for Argentina. With the navies of both nations a shadow of their 1982 selves, a resumption of armed conflict remains unlikely. This makes the diplomatic debate over the Falklands—both in multilateral international forums and in bilateral relationships between Argentina and Britain and the rest of the world—all the more decisive. The future of British sovereignty over the Falklands is in greater question now than at any time since the end of the war, while Argentina’s claims to the island have become both more persistent and politically unifying.” (07/23/26)
- When Trump targets journalists, the public pays the price
Source: USA Today
by Saundra Torry“Subpoenas of several New York Times reporters authorized by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department are far more than an attack on reporters. It’s an action that affects the rights of people in a free society to know what their government is doing. It’s also more than just a single strike against one news organization. It appears to be part of broader actions by the administration that have harmed press freedom.” (07/23/26)
- The Problem With Middle-Class Socialism
Source: The New Republic
by Vinnie Rotondaro“The Democratic Socialists of America are all about fighting for the working class—even though few of them are actually working class. What would George Orwell say?” (07/23/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/213121/democratic-socialists-america-problem-middle-class-socialism
- Evil US Hypocrisy Toward Cuba
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“In an effort to show how good and caring they are, U.S. officials are shipping $100 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba. Wow! Let’s all bow toward Washington and express thanks for living under such a kind, gentle, and benevolent government, one that clearly loves the poor, needy, and disadvantaged and just wants to help them out. Let’s also not forget that this humanitarian aid also reflects how good, caring, and compassionate we Americans are. After all, it’s our government doing this Christian-like act. That means that since we participate in our nation’s democratic process, especially by voting, we are kind and benevolent too. Except for one thing: It is the U.S. government, in combination with Cuba’s socialist economic system, that is responsible for the desperate economic plight that has enveloped the Cuban people and placed them in a position of imminent death by starvation and illness.” (07/23/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/07/23/evil-u-s-hypocrisy-toward-cuba/
- The Next Attorney General Should Enforce the Law, Not Perform Populism Theater
Source: Checks & Balances
by Matthew P Cavedon“Todd Blanche, the acting United States Attorney General, appeared in Congress last week for his confirmation hearing. There was much talk on the administration’s weaponization of the Department of Justice against its political opponents. These concerns, of course, are valid. Yet focusing only on the DOJ’s partisan misuse misses another important problem: the Department cares more about political theater than enforcing the law. Much of its dysfunction arises from that fact.” (07/23/26)
https://chkbal.substack.com/p/the-next-attorney-general-should
- Underthrow Podcast, 07/23/26
Source: Underthrow
“Free Yourself with Subversive Innovation.” (07/23/26)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/free-yourself-with-subversive-innovation
- The Political Orphanage, 07/23/26
Source: The Political Orphanage
“Why Nobody Trusts the News: Isaac Saul.” (07/23/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/why-nobody-trusts-the-news-isaac-saul
- How Socialist Were the Nazis Really?
Source: Bet On It
“After talking about the socialist credentials of the Nazis with Bob Lawson and Phil Magness, I had this spirited conversation with Kristian Niemietz, author of the astoundingly good Socialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies. Niemietz pushes back against my thesis more than Lawson or Magness, so if you enjoy a serious argument, don’t miss our exchange.” (07/23/26)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/how-socialist-were-the-nazis-really
- The Permanent Problem, episode 18
Source: Niskanen Center
“Living near friends and family, with Phil Levin.” (07/23/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/living-near-friends-and-family-with-phil-levin